Bulletin No. 1, 2010

40  Chinese University Bulletin No. 1, 2010  Physics and Biomed Professors Receive State Natural Science Awards Prof. Xia Keqing of the Department of Physics Department won the second-class award of the 2009 State Natural Science Award with ‘Experimental Studies of Turbulent Thermal Convection’. The findings and discoveries of Professor Xia’s research shed light on the nature of fluid turbulence, which is regarded as the last unsolved problem in classical physics. They also provide insight into natural phenomena such as polarity reversal in geomagnetic fields, atmospheric circulation and oceanic circulation. Apart from this, the findings enhance people’s understanding of heat transfer and mixing in engineering applications. Prof. Christopher H.K. Cheng at the School of Biomedical Sciences has won the second-class awa rd of t he 2009 State Natural Science Award for his research ‘Composition Analysis of Certain Medicinally I mp o r t a n t P l a n t s ’, which is a collaborative project with Nanjing University and Lanzhou University. The 20-year research adopts modern scientific methods to elucidate the components of some 200 plants, paving the way for the development of new medicines from natural products and enhancing international recognition for traditional Chinese medicine. • • Honours and Recognition